Taking The Scenic Route: Highlights Of The Journey...
It’s been a massive twelve months for Tom Evans and Jacob Malmo, the bookends of Melbourne musos de jour The Journey. Rounding off a stellar year with a nomination for Best Electronic Act in The Age Music Victoria Awards and a remix to be released on Fatboy Slim’s label SKINT, as well as another stint to open doof season at Strawberry Fields then Subsonic and Petting Zoo, it’s certainly not looking like 2017 is going to go quietly. But in terms of where they see themselves on the rollercoaster, they have only really just strapped themselves in. Despite a stunningly successful year, they see the true white knuckle corkscrews and free falling exhilaration of The Journey as yet to come.
Jacob: ‘It’s all happened really quickly to be honest. We didn’t expect it to go like this. Our first track Principium was released in October last year. We sent Pompeii off to a few labels, but neither of us expected a label like Einmusika to take it on board so quickly.’
On the back of blossoming successes, the boys have kept themselves beyond busy with a bulging calendar of interstate gigs taking them all over the country.
JACOB: ‘We played at Sash in Sydney at the start of June. It was an incredible vibe. Jackson Winter was warming the room nicely, playing a stripped back, fused London sound which set the room up perfectly. It was his birthday and the place was really vibing.
But these things don’t always go to plan. Tom nearly didn’t make it. He forgot his ID. The security were very thorough and he had to wait outside for longer than expected. I was filthy cos I was a hungover and desperate for a drink. In the end we all got in. It was worth the wait, the vibe on the terrace was probably one of the best of any gigs I’ve ever played at.’
Jacob and Tom have plenty of stories to share about the peaks and troughs of living the DJ life at a million miles an hour. So what’s the most full on journey The Journey have ever had to make together for their music?
Earlier this year, we had a couple of shows back to back, which took us to Wollongong on the Friday and then Sydney on the Saturday. Our flight out was cancelled so we had to fly to Newcastle as an alternative. From there, we hired a car and made the five hour journey south to Wollongong. We left from Melbourne at 9am and got to Wollongong by 7pm in the end. Then the next day we had to get cranking again to play a three hour set at Goodbar down in Sydney fro 1am, before flying back to Melbourne at 6am for a 9:30am set in Revolver.’
In the musical melting pot of Melbourne, they have sown seeds in fertile grounds for creative expansion, in a scene where beautiful things bloom from forests of Funktion Ones. For Jacob and Tom, it sometimes feels like all roads lead to Revs.
JACOB: ‘I will always bring it back to Revolver Upstairs. Sometimes you walk out of there having met three new people you will know for the rest of your life. Other times you might not remember anything. I think my record of staying there has to be a full 24 hours. I like to get there around Boogs o’clock and stay til close, maybe popping out for an Up and Go [ed: so that’s what you call it now..?]. Once you’ve found your perch and it gets to 9am, you may as well not go anywhere else.’
‘There’s a lot to be said about places where it all began in clubs like onesixone, where the scene we know was developing about a decade ago. ‘It’s all down to fantastic people like Mic Newman (Fantastic Man) and Lewie Day (Tornado Wallace). Their success inspired a lot of people, including myself. I’m 29 – I don’t consider myself a veteran yet – (until I see all the 18 year olds out on Chapel Street on a Thursday night). I still do hope that I can inspire and influence people as those before me did for me.’
TOM: ‘So many DJs and producers have moved down here from other areas to be a part of our scene. It’s competitive, but in a healthy way; everyone pushes each other. You’re spoiled for choice with the range of parties that are going on. In most places the size of Melbourne, you’ll find ten parties to choose from. Here you’ll find 50.’
‘There aren’t that many clubs that will allow you to go play at more than one club in a night. Most DJs interstate play one gig and that’s where they stay for the night. In 2010 I did seven gigs in one night.’
JACOB: ‘Seven gigs in one night? You slut…’
The boys have always been surrounded by great influences to propel them in the right direction.
TOM: ‘Jamie Stevens did the remix of our first EP. I’ve been mates with him for at least ten years. I used to run a night at Korova Milk Bar in the city and I had him play. I reckon he’s the nicest guy in the industry.’
‘We sent him Principium. It was the easiest transaction. He’s such a professional. We sent him the record, then two hours later get a message. “hey boys, I had a rough go at this” and we find ourselves listening to a flawless remix on the first draft. He remixed another one that is coming out on ugenius by [Melbourne based producer] JPA – it was the same deal – a mindblowing track returned remixed to perfection in two hours.’
Tom originally started ugenius with his business partner Aaron Trotman as an outlet for electronic experimentation, the more leftfield side of the dancefloor. When Trotman gave up his share, Tom asked Jacob if he wanted to be his new partner. Musically aligned and ready to challenge eachother, Jacob jumped on the chance.
TOM: ‘We were getting tonnes of submissions from local artists. But a lot were more peak time housey. While they were still bursting with potential, they didn’t really sit in the realm of what we wanted to push for Ugenius. We didn’t want to reject the material, or give it to other people, so we decided to create a new label. Valiant was borne of this need. I had no idea it would take off like it did, but I’m glad to report that it’s been beyond successful. We are releasing tunes every three weeks and have releases backed up until March!’
‘With Ugenius, we are pacing ourselves a bit more. We are trying to branch out and widen the family a bit and hopefully next year, start to welcome more international remixes on the label.’
In terms of artists, The Journey are very closely aligned with Tim Englehardt. Jacob makes no secret of his fanboy obsession with Englehardt, who came round to the scene of the interview this month to play one of their increasingly busy ‘A Quiet Night In’ sessions live-streamed to the world from their lounge room.
JACOB: ‘It’s starting to get a little crowded round our house when we do them. We are loving the vibe and people are definitely responding well to the idea. It’s just music and beers round ours really, an extended house party.’
Arguably The Journey’s biggest break as a duo came when Global PR’s Gabby Colombi got in touch with Tom to ask if they would like to work on Gavin Campbell’s 25 year remix package of Yothu Yindi’s ‘Treaty’ as one of their first major remixes together.
TOM: ‘It’s such an amazing record to open the batting with. I’ve known Gabby for a long time. I used to play Qbar bar a lot. I was the young pup who came in with a lot of attitude, and they took me under their wing and channeled it.’
‘We sat down with Gavin Campbell [the project’s instigator] and got together all of the parts for the record. We already had an idea about what we were going to do and it came together pretty fast. Treaty came out just how we wanted it pretty much first time. We just had the vision and it worked. It’s a rarity that this happens. I think it came together so easily because we used a lot of the existing track.’
‘The whole record is pretty much their samples, with our bells and whistles added. We rearranged it and put a bass line to it and then added natural elements, some thunder, cookaburras and whip birds to infuse its authenticity. It’s a big record and really needs to be played outside for full impact on a big system. Jacob gave it an airing at Strawberry Fields 2016. Our feedback from the dancefloor was that it was the best sounding track of the set.’
JACOB: ‘People’s ears always prick up when they hear it and dancefloors respond so positively. It’s so good to watch people’s faces as it kicks in, I love playing it out. And after that, Matthias Meyer’s remix of Infinity really turns it on its head and slows it all back down. We’ve found that it just works.’
‘At Rainbow Serpent earlier this year the remix was still pretty fresh – we were wondering if it would get played. After the Opening Ceremony, we went back to our tents to get our night gear on, while a couple of our other mates went to see Rollin Connection B2B Dave Juric at the Market Stage. I got stuck in the tent chinwagging for an hour. We emerged to go and see Patrice Baumel. When we got there, everyone was going off. Turns out we’d missed the boys playing our remix. Fortunately there was footage. I was dancing later on at the festival and thought, I recognise this – then realised that someone was playing Principium. It’s very surreal as it dawns on you that someone is playing your tunes.’
Jacob is (not so) freshly returned from a month in Europe for ADE. He also spent some time in Berlin, where he played at Sisyphos and House of Weekend. He also is closely aligned with the crew at Watergate and works with their agency, bringing artists to Australia.
JACOB: ‘I have been going to Berlin every year for the past three years but this trip was definitely the best by far. Playing Sisyphos was such an incredible experience. I have been there as a punter before and always dreamed of being on the other side of the booth. From the crowd to the sound system, everything was on point. I got to play for four hours which really enabled me to play a wide range of music and take people on a “Journey” through our music. I cannot wait to go back.’
The boys still retain their own separate projects on but still managed to achieve the perfect balance of creative personal space and collaboration time. Sometimes they rehearse their sets together, but others they are completely impromptu. With tastes and styles closely aligned, it just works – well most of the time.
TOM: ‘Even before The Journey formed, we were already playing a lot together on a similar tip, so we just moulded together. A particular set we played at Revolver stands out, where we pretty much winged the whole set. Sometimes natural instinct is the best way to go. For the first hour we played a lot of other people’s records, then for the last half hour, we were pretty bold and went in and played all of our records back to back. It’s interesting to gauge the crowd reaction. I think did quite well… the place was absolutely rocking. I guess we just feel at home there.’
‘We played there on 10 November after Tim Engelhard's LIVE show. He truly is a master of the game. Its hard to imagine that he is only 19 years of age. You can really see how much of a true musician he is. If you get a chance to see him play, you must!’
JACOB: ‘In terms of studio time, from time to time we hit a road block and butt heads. What has happened in the past is that I leave and then Tom will message half an hour later and tell me the headspace has worked and he’s ended up nailing it. Nothing stifles projects more that crowding each other’s space.’
‘If I feel a bit of anxiety all I need to do is get behind the decks and it all melts away. It’s like my therapy. Tom is in his element in the studio.’
TOM: ‘I have more experience as a producer, but Jacob is definitely a better DJ than me. He has this great ability to pull records out of nowhere. One of best sets we played was at Babylon festival last year. It’s good to listen back and grow from what you are doing. We are a good team.’
Finishing each other’s sentences and bouncing off each other, there’s a feeling in this unselfish partnership of being the yin to the other’s yang; that what one lacks, the other provides. Working as a duo does not hold up the success of solo productions. When we chatted, Tom was basking in the sunny sunlight of his latest release ‘Like That’ which was enjoying skyrocketing success in the Aria Club Charts. With its deliciously housey piano stabs, it’s got a feel of Paul Woolford’s ‘Untitled.’
TOM: ‘I wrote it ages ago and love a lot of house. ‘Untitled’ is one of my favourite tunes, I cane that in my sets. There’s more of an outlet for this kind of track in my warm up sets. At the moment I write too much music, it’s all about finding an outlet for it.’
JACOB: ‘I’m still developing my skills in studio. Tom definitely writes a lot more than me. He goes a million miles an hour. I’m still doing a lot of watching and learning. It’s good for me to go back to practice and hone my skills as a producer. I’m forever asking him questions.’
‘One of our mentors is Osunlade. He runs Yoruba records and is one of pioneers of house. He is always in my ear to get in studio as much as possible. It’s great to have so many peers around me who are that encouraging. I learn so much from them on how to adapt my own ideas. Tom’s got his individual style, and similarly, I’m keen to see where I can go as a solo artist.’
TOM: We finished our latest track when we were on our Brisbane/Gold Coast trip. Sometimes I find a lot of inspiration happens on the road. We will be releasing it soon through Open Records on their Expansion Pack II compilation alongside an array of talented local and international artists. We initially wrote it as an intro. As a track, it’s oddly arranged, but it sounds quite cinematic, it would be a great soundtrack to something. We’ve found ourselves having to think a lot more about what we are going to do, because we like to play longer sets and haven’t really had our own material to kick it off with.’
‘What’s funny is our logo. It came to us completely by chance that our logo and name features our initials, T and J. It must have been fate. It was all down to that and the genius of our designers really. We really can’t take credit.’
While it fluctuates, the projects the boys are focussing on at the moment are a bit more groove oriented and proggy– but really both their sets and material evolve and build, ebb and flow and grow and flourish. It’s this notion of diversity and travel that influenced the name.
In terms of recent projects to listen out for, The Journey have a track called “Cooee” coming out through Subsonic. This track came about after Jacob was discussing an Australian turn of phrase “Cooee”. He we went down to the studio and he recorded himself calling out the word. You’ll no doubt be hearing this heavy percussion stomper all over doof season.
They have also been working on a bunch of remixes, including one for Fatboy Slim’s label SKINT which they are understandably very excited about. Other projects that have just been completed include a remix coming out on Unknown Records for Francis Xavier & Horowitz, one for Romanian producer Breky which is coming out on W.A label Lucid Dreaming Records and a remix for Made In Paris which comes out through her label Upon Access in early 2018.
TOM: ‘Like the best journeys, we aren’t linear. Travelling through spectrums of music, we play and are influenced by many different genres of music, from funk and disco to slamming techno and anywhere in between. We are covering so much ground, smashing boundaries and crossing so many borders, we are always going on some kind of journey.’
Checkout The Journer's Strawberry Fields set here:
